Subject

Description

The Battle-Friedman House was built about 1835 by Alfred Battle, a North Carolina native who had come to Tuscaloosa in 1821, and his wife, Millicent. A wealthy planter, Battle owned three plantations south of Tuscaloosa in present day Hale County. In 1875 due to failed Confederate investments, Battle was forced to sell the house to Bernard Friedman, a local merchant who had emigrated from Hungary. Bernard Friedman operated a dry goods store, known as the Atlanta Store, located on the northeast corner of University Boulevard and Greensboro Avenue. The Battle-Friedman House remained in the Friedman family until 1965, when it was willed to the City of Tuscaloosa by Victor Hugo Friedman. The Battle-Friedman House is presently managed by the Tuscaloosa County Preservation Society and is available for rental for weddings, receptions etc.

Originally, the house and its outbuildings occupied the entire city block. The house consisted of the two front parlors, central hallway and the rooms above. The columned porch and the rooms at the back of the house were added at various times before the Civil War. The front porch has distinctively Tuscaloosa styled paneled square columns. The exterior of the house is stucco over brick and painted to resemble red marble. Inside, elaborate plasterwork decorates the walls and ceilings of the front parlors and hallways. Some of this is original to the house, but the distinctive art deco nasturtium frieze in the halls was added by the Friedman family in the early part of the twentieth century. The house now contains a fine collection of renaissance revival furniture.